SOATH Chapter One

Song of a Tortured Heart

Chapter 1: Long Awaited Escape

Cold, quiet, empty. This is all she knew. This was all she had known for a long time. She was not like any normal girl you know. She was a monster.

Trapped in here, doomed to an eternity of isolation. They used to do tests on her before she became far too dangerous. Now they simply kept her locked up. Like a pet. They knew if they killing her would be too great of loss and a risk so here she was. It was always a low ranking employee that was dragged down to take care of her food and hygiene, both of which were handled poorly. They thought it was a simple task keeping her contained, despite her misery being immeasurable, but they never knew the truth until it was too late.

“Alright, Aronson, your turn to feed number 47.” his co-worker said.

“Dammit!” Joseph Aronson cursed. “Why do I always get the shit ones?” he growled.

“Just shut up and do it. It’s not as hard as it sounds and you know it.”

And with that he set a tray filled with a cold piece of chicken, a biscuit, and a dirty plastic cup filled with tap water on Joseph’s desk and left the room. Joseph sighed and took it with him as he walked out of his office and into an elevator just down the hall, going down to the containment level where the beasts were kept.

Joseph Aronson worked with some of the more dangerous animals at a local zoo and studied cryptozoology in his spare time. So of course he was qualified for this job. He did hate the fact that his job involved a daily dance with death. Sometimes he just wanted to tell these freaks to behave enough to be able to have a slot in their cell where the try could be placed but the last time that was done with this one she killed two workers. She only accepted food from human hands and that’s why he was here, unfortunately.

When the doors to the elevator opened again he was greeted by a guard who, despite knowing that Joseph came here often and knew where the correct cell was, escorted him through the cold all white hallways to a large door. The guard pulled out a walkie-talkie and gave the order to open the door. A mix of static and incoherent words came back in response and several seconds later the door slowly opened. As the two stepped inside it closed behind them and another opened a few feet in front of them.

Though he had done this as almost a routine thing Joseph backed up and tried to swallow is fear. That girl gave him the creeps. He finally stepped inside with the guard staying close behind him. Joseph stopped a few feet in front of her making sure to be out of her reach and slowly pushed the tray to her being careful not to spill the drink.

She looked like any normal human girl. She had pale skin and blonde hair. Of course her treatment in this place had left her terribly thin and her shoulder length blonde hair had turned to more of a brown color from years of improper hygiene. She sat on the cold floor curled up with her head in her knees and chains on her wrists and ankles. She had never looked up when people were around. She mostly just slept. And she never, EVER, opened her mouth to speak. You could barely hear her breathe. She was creepy but this wasn’t the worst side of her.

Joseph slowly got up and turned away. Then he heard a small raspy voice.

“Pathetic...”

He froze in his tracks and turned around to see two bloodshot red eyes staring at him. The girl smiled a little, quickly grabbing her drink and taking a long sip. She dropped it on the ground next to the tray and slowly stood up on her shaking legs. She closed her eyes for a second in a deep focus before opening them and letting the smile on her face grow to a very unsettling grin.

The guard pulled out his gun but the girl was not the slightest bit intimidated. Her chains suddenly flew off from the wall whipping both of them leaving bleeding slash marks across their chests. The guard fired several shots but in his daze all of them missed as the girl ran from the room, the metal on her wrists making a horrible screeching noise as they dragged across the ground.

The guard tried to find his walkie-talkie but only saw the smashed pieces surrounding him and the unconscious Joseph, slowly bleeding to death on the floor from getting hit with the bigger of the two hits. The girl built up a glowing black orb sparking with red electricity in her hand and threw it through the large metal door, leaving a gaping and smoking hole in it, which she gracefully hopped through.

She knew the cameras would see her soon but it didn’t matter to her. She could sense energy pouring out of something on a higher floor. She slowly made her way down the hall and into the elevator, heading the lab and testing level. She was half way up when red warning  lights began to flash and a woman's voice echoed around her from the intercom.

“This is an emergency alert. A D-class subject has escaped the vault. All staff evacuate the facility immediately.” she smirked at how remarkably calm the woman sounded as the elevator dinged to signal she was there.

As the door opened she looked up through her bangs and stared at the row of guards in heavy combat gear, all of their guns pointed at her. Even from a distance she could hear their terrified whispers to each other. Only a few kept straight faces though they still trembled very subtly. She took several steps forward, her bare feet slapping against the floor being the only sound before she launched into the air, nearly touching the ceiling as she floated above them.

“Hurry shoot her!” one of them shouted.

The squad opened fire as she dove down into the middle of the group. She landed before they could react and swiped a knife from one of the guards back pockets.

“Go on, shoot me.” she muttered before stabbing the officer behind her in the shoulder just before he fired.

Two other opened fire to which she quickly dove down and slid between their legs, slicing both of their jugulars. She cut and slashed at everyone one of them while dodging fire. Eventually she was standing quietly in a mess of blood and bodies, only a single bullet had hit her left arm. The girl gripped the blade tightly finally taking the time to examine it as she kept walking, her footprints stained red.

It had come off one of the only female guards in the group. It looked like any other combat knife other than a name that was carved into the handle. Alice. The girl stared at it for a moment before continuing on her way.

With another blast of energy the metal door fell off its hinges and onto the floor. Several of the scientists, who had been too frightened to bail, where hiding under the lab tables when she walked in. She heard their panicked breaths and even saw them clearly but didn’t pay them any mind as she walked up to a small glass case, containing a small, circular, red gem. She easily broke it and took the jewel in her hands with a relaxed sigh.

She turned around to face a female scientist cowering under the table and crouched down in front of her. She looked up at her with and innocent gaze as she removed her glasses and wiped the tears that were streaming down her face away with her blood stained finger, leaving a red mark on her cheek. She then took the end of her pants in her hands before tearing of a strip of the fabric. The woman was trembling at this point, curled up in a tiny ball under the table. The girl stood up and held the gem to the fabric, the piece of clothing began to smoke before fusing to the gem. The girl smiled softly and tied the fabric around her neck.

She turned back to the woman who was staring at her in confusion. “Leave…” the girl muttered. The woman complied with slight hesitation and stumbled out of the room along with the two other workers that were in the room.

After digging through a medical kit and bandaging her arm she made her way to the top floor, which ironically was the ground floor. Other than a few teams of soldiers no one else was in the building and she easily made it to the front door. She took a second to take a deep breath and flung it open. She was suddenly blinded by the outside light and goosebumps covered her skin as the evening breeze blew past her. She slowly stepped out into the golden light and made her way over the chain-link barb wire fence and out onto the rocks overlooking the sparkling blue ocean.

Her toes hooked over the edge of the rocks and prepared to jump as a sniper watched her from the roof of the facility.

“Aim for the head. She’s become too much of a hazard.” a man muttered to him.

“I got this...” the sniper replied, slightly adjusting his gun.

The girl took a deep breath, staring down at the water in thought. The sniper set his finger on the trigger and made the final adjustments as he squeezed the trigger. The girl jumped off the cliff, spinning around in midair as the bullet flew past her. She charged a ball of energy and threw it at the building, hearing a massive explosion as she hit the water. A dark bubble formed around her as she curled up and shivered inside it and the current began to carry her away.

“I have it. Pack up and find me. I’ll be waiting…” she thought sending her telepathic message to her partner.
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No one ever notices a stray animal, do they? They’ve never seen Ruby anyways.

She was a gray cat with a white face, paws, and tip of her tail. She had a bright pink nose and shiny blue eyes. Her ears twitched as her friend’s message ran into her head. She didn’t have the ability to respond but she knew what to do. She dragged a small torn up and dirty purse out from behind the dumpster. Inside were a large book and various articles of clothing that she had sadly had to steal, but c’mon, who’s going to sell clothes to a cat anyways? Ruby had been born and raised in an alley so she was a master scavenger. She had everything planned out.

She pulled the strap over her head and slowly crept out with the bag dragging right behind her. She quickly saw a flatbed truck about to stop at a red light which seemed to be heading in the direction she needed to go. Just her luck.

Ruby ran holding the bag in her teeth and jumped into the truck just before the light turned green. She sighed and caught her breath while keeping an eye on where this truck was going. She’d be there in no time.
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The girl opened her eyes to find herself in shallow water looking up at the stars. She sat up and turned to see a small beach in front of a dense forest. Taking in every detail she told her partner, again telepathically. She knew she could find her. The girl made her way into the woods, shivering from the water that clung to her skin. She hovered about the ground to keep from hurting her feet and soon made it to a small clearing. She sat down on a fallen log and listened to the wind rush past the leaves.

About an hour passed before the girl heard rustling in the bushes and a familiar voice.

“Lexi?” she heard it whisper. Ruby poked her head out of the bush and beamed running to the girl. She jumped up in her lap and nuzzled her, purring. The girl, Lexi hugged her furry friend with a warm smile growing on her face.

“It’s been so long Ruby. I missed you.”

“Four years to be exact.” Ruby corrected.

“And it could’ve been ten without you, you sneaky little rat.” Lexi smirked rubbing Ruby’s head.
“Well, it’s your powers that allowed me to speak.” the two friends exchanged a few more smiles before Ruby handed Lexi the bag.

“I got everything I could and our new home isn’t too far from here.” Ruby explained.
“What would I do without you?” Lexi smirked.
She pulled out the clothes and slipped them on. She now wore a short black summer dress with a light pink t-shirt underneath, long black and pink striped socks, red fingerless gloves and red ballet flats.

“You brought the spell book too, right?” Lexi asked.
Ruby nodded and pulled the thick book out. Lexi took it and examined it closely. The book’s cover was a dull green and covered in dirt and dust. The gold designs on the edges shined in the moonlight as Lexi ran her fingers over them. She opened it to a specific page that was bookmarked with an emerald colored ribbon. Reading the spell over a few times she soon began to say the words out loud.

Her hair began to glow and it soon began to grow past her back and continued until it was almost to her ankles and her bangs covered her face. The glow faded as the edges of her hair turned a bright red, a symbol that it was successfully cast. Ruby gave Lexi a hair tie and she pulled in back in a ponytail. Taking a black bow hair clip she pulled back the bangs covering her left eye and held it in place.

“So you have a new look now. What about your name?” Ruby asked.

“My name?”

Ruby nodded. “If you’re going to do this properly you need an alias.”

Lexi looked back to the log she had been sitting on and more specifically, the knife laying on it.

“Alice.” she muttered. “That name will do for now.”